Everyday Drinkers (12)

This is a real cracker.

Les Six - Cairanne (Côtes-du-Rhône Villages).

The 'Six' refers to the mix of grape varieties involved in its making: Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Counoise. The classic Rhône varieties along with the rarer Counoise, most often associated with Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

You can read more about the origins of this wine here.

Made and distributed by Boutinot, it is a fabulous layer cake of fruit flavours, each revealing itself in succession both on the nose and on the palate in the course of a never ending finish. Tannins there are, but silky and unobtrusive. Freshness in abundance too, and despite the 14.5% ABV this wine remains light as a feather.

I would happily drink this wine every day - however it is a bit pricey to be a true everyday drinker priced at just under £16.00 at Chislehurst Wines (@chiswines).

But if you can, it is too good to miss.

Everyday Drinkers (11)

I have recently been drinking (I feel like that character in the Fast Show played by Simon Day writing this) 2013 Côtes-du-Rhônes and have found them very agreeable.

Priced from £3.99 they offer exceptionally good value and are soft and fruity. Served slightly chilled they go down well with anything you care to mention and disappear disconcertingly quickly.

As to how the wine can sell for this sort of price, suffice it to say that these are bulk wines produced in vast quantities by co-ops all down the Rhône Valley.  In good years they are all very drinkable, made from reliable Grenache and Syrah cropped heavily, sometimes too heavily. This explains why some years too much wine is chasing too few buyers and why we as drinkers should take advantage while we can.

This particular bottle is on sale at a well known retailer, and originates from the Cellier des Dauphins in Tulette, with an ABV of 12.5%.

  

Everyday Drinkers (6)

This wine shows that you don't have to go to Spain to find a bargain. The Tesco people have done pretty well here with this 'simply Côtes du Rhône', for that is what it is.

A blend of Syrah and Grenache it has vivid acidity countered by sweet fruit and has 13.5% alcohol, which I think is perfect for this sort of wine. I used to get through enormous quantities of Vacqueyras at 13.5% which provides sufficient weight, but does not overpower. All in all a very satisfying drop at a great price - £3.65 - from the Celliers du Dauphin cooperative based in Tullette in the heart of the southern Rhône Valley appellations.

I have fond memories of this brand, having drunk my fair share of it when living in Lyon, and they have not lost their touch for producing good quality, well-priced wines. This one will go with pretty much anything.

Everyday drinkers

Wine of the moment

What do you drink wine wise with your weekday bowl of pasta that won't break the bank and will still be drinkable ? Good question, and one which depending on who you ask will cost you upwards of £7-10 per bottle (outside of special offers). If you want to spend only a fiver what sort of choice do you have ? If you have no wine specialists nearby and you can't or don't want to travel and have only a large supermarket within reach, what then ?

My solution is to scrutinise the labels very carefully for information about where the liquid comes from and who might have made it with which grape varieties, and using the moderate wine knowledge at my disposal, make an educated guess as to what it might taste like. I then take the plunge and buy a bottle (only one) and taste, preparing, more often than not, to be disappointed.

One recent find, which did not disappoint, is a Garnacha made by Bodegas Borsao from Campo de Borja in Spain sold by a local supermarket as Gran Tesoro for the princely sum of £4.49. Now of course if you are a Bordeaux blend or Pinot Noir purist you might not want to be seen dead drinking Garnacha/Grenache. It is however a grape that is at the heart of many excellent wines from Priorat to the Rhône valley and one which I appreciate having drunk my fill, over the years, of Vacqeyras, Gigondas, Signargues etc.

This particular wine shows red fruit on the nose, with sometimes, depending on the batch, a more complex earthy character. There is good acidity and the alcohol content of 13.5% is well integrated. It is wine which is meant to be drunk with food. In this household it is inevitably consumed with pasta and a simple tomato and olive oil sauce (includes garlic and any herbs available in the kitchen) or a homemade pizza with olives and mozzarella. It has become our everyday drinker and until we find something else will do very nicely.

Bodegas Borsao http://www.bodegasborsao.com/en/index.html